James Berlin, Roseville Chief of Police Tells Resident to "Drop Dead"

**belleislerunner** · January-09-17, 07:31 AM

With all the hatred between certain groups and police - why would a police officer, no the police chief ever think it's okay to say "Drop Dead" to a resident? He sets the tone at the top.

Imagine if everyone suddenly started posting/saying that they thought every police officer - or named police officers - should "Drop Dead".

Why would the head of an entire city's police department be so stupid to fan the flames - especially with all the undercurrent in Roseville anyway.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/r...n-own-driveway

This guys needs to be fired.

**Bham1982** · January-09-17, 07:34 AM

Wait, it's illegal to warm up your car? Why?

**dtowncitylover** · January-09-17, 07:57 AM

Originally Posted by Bham1982

Wait, it's illegal to warm up your car? Why?

It's not illegal to warm up your car, it's illegal to idle your car with keys in the ignition because if you read the article it could lead to theft and possibly a high speed chase endangering the public. Ok, makes sense on a certain level but I side with the resident that the cop could've knocked the door and talked to him instead, of course, being ticket happy.

The cop must be part of Trump's America. He's just "telling it like it is". But seriously, "drop dead"?! And you wonder why police officers wonder why they're not respected by all...

**Jimaz** · January-09-17, 08:05 AM

What if you leave it running with keys in the ignition but with the doors locked? Is that illegal too?

[[Of course you'd have a second set of keys to unlock it.)

**dtowncitylover** · January-09-17, 08:28 AM

Originally Posted by Jimaz

What if you leave it running with keys in the ignition but with the doors locked? Is that illegal too?

[[Of course you'd have a second set of keys to unlock it.)

Not sure, but many of the newer cars don't and can't lock when the car is running, like mine.

**Bham1982** · January-09-17, 08:34 AM

Originally Posted by dtowncitylover

It's not illegal to warm up your car, it's illegal to idle your car with keys in the ignition because if you read the article it could lead to theft and possibly a high speed chase endangering the public.

If you don't have a remote starter, that's how you warm up your car, no? I mean, the point of warming up your car is so it's warm before you drive. Cars don't need to warm up to operate in the cold these days, it's for the people in the car.

I think it's a silly law, IMO. Is it illegal to keep your car unlocked too? That could also lead to theft. What about parking in a bad neighborhood, or driving an Accord or Civic [[most valued cars for stolen parts)?

Originally Posted by dtowncitylover

The cop must be part of Trump's America. He's just "telling it like it is". But seriously, "drop dead"?! And you wonder why police officers wonder why they're not respected by all...

I was thinking the same thing. I bet you tons of people think this cop is just "telling it like it is" [[which nowadays seems to be the justification whenever a public official says something awful, untrue, or just ridiculous). The more absurd the statement, the more it's "telling it like it is".

**Wesley Mouch** · January-09-17, 09:37 AM

It does seem like a silly law, but its a law -- and maybe it does help the overall safety of the city. The citizens can [[and probably should) change it if they wish.

In the meantime, this seems like no big deal. So the police chief made a mistake. Campaign to get him replaced if you're offended. Or even better, stop being offended so easily. Unless there's a string of incidents, this seems pretty minor, if as BHam says, 'absurd'.

I just can't get over this zero-tolerance attitude to people's statements.

**DetroiterOnTheWestCoast** · January-09-17, 11:19 AM

Originally Posted by Wesley Mouch

It does seem like a silly law, but its a law -- and maybe it does help the overall safety of the city. The citizens can [[and probably should) change it if they wish.

In the meantime, this seems like no big deal. So the police chief made a mistake. Campaign to get him replaced if you're offended. Or even better, stop being offended so easily. Unless there's a string of incidents, this seems pretty minor, if as BHam says, 'absurd'.

I just can't get over this zero-tolerance attitude to people's statements.

Who's "zero tolerance"? Those who are criticizing the Chief or the thin-skinned cops who had thier fee-fees hurt?

**cassique** · January-09-17, 01:19 PM

Originally Posted by dtowncitylover

Not sure, but many of the newer cars don't and can't lock when the car is running, like mine.

Ford products have the ability to lock the doors with the key in the car with the PIN code that you can enter. I use this almost exclusively and is one of the main reasons why I like Ford so much.

**Scottathew** · January-09-17, 01:49 PM

If folks don't like the law they need to take it up with law makers, not law enforcers.

I never warm up my car unless it's iced over. It's a waste of gas. My car will be fully warm within about 5 minutes of driving, no need for 15-20 minutes of idling so it can be luke-warm before I get in.

**Dan Wesson** · January-09-17, 01:53 PM

It gets worse in that if your car is taken by a youth and then involved in a vehicular homicide of a cop guess who got the ball rolling.

The powers that be and their dogs are gonna have your butt in sling.

Look up the Attractive Nuisance Doctrine.

**hybridy** · January-09-17, 02:50 PM

roseville is a miserable place to work & live. i did my time and never looked back

**Meddle** · January-09-17, 03:28 PM

Originally Posted by belleislerunner

With all the hatred between certain groups and police - why would a police officer, no the police chief ever think it's okay to say "Drop Dead" to a resident? He sets the tone at the top.

Imagine if everyone suddenly started posting/saying that they thought every police officer - or named police officers - should "Drop Dead".

Why would the head of an entire city's police department be so stupid to fan the flames - especially with all the undercurrent in Roseville anyway.

Tha' be how the PoPo roll. The peeps ain't nuttin' but fee payers and targets.

Expect a great deal more of this in Trumperica too.

**canuck** · January-09-17, 10:16 PM

Originally Posted by 48307

If folks don't like the law they need to take it up with law makers, not law enforcers.

I never warm up my car unless it's iced over. It's a waste of gas. My car will be fully warm within about 5 minutes of driving, no need for 15-20 minutes of idling so it can be luke-warm before I get in.

Same here. I start and drive almost immediately. It'll warm up fast enough. I just make sure not to rev it up before I reach optimal temperature. That is where you will damage your engine. Cars have been around for a hundred and 30 years. The tech has evolved enough: engines can take abuse and they are precise. Love them fuel injectors.

**archfan** · January-10-17, 02:33 AM

Originally Posted by Dan Wesson

It gets worse in that if your car is taken by a youth and then involved in a vehicular homicide of a cop guess who got the ball rolling.

The powers that be and their dogs are gonna have your butt in sling.

Look up the Attractive Nuisance Doctrine.

That seems less likely than having a cop write a ticket for idling in your driveway.

**Bong-Man** · January-10-17, 10:51 AM

Ha....This story actually made Fox News. So how many other cars did this officer check out that morning. I bet none. You can't tell me how many of these tickets you've written ?...Don't you have a computer data-base ? We're not hearing the whole story here.

Roseville PD has time to check out idling cars in private driveways on a cold Winter morning, and two miles away the cops take 4 hours to respond to an on-going larceny of a building. Ain't this area great ?

**Scottathew** · January-10-17, 11:02 AM

Originally Posted by Bong-Man

Ha....This story actually made Fox News. So how many other cars did this officer check out that morning. I bet none. You can't tell me how many of these tickets you've written ?...Don't you have a computer data-base ? We're not hearing the whole story here.

Roseville PD has time to check out idling cars in private driveways on a cold Winter morning, and two miles away the cops take 4 hours to respond to an on-going larceny of a building. Ain't this area great ?

He wasn't the only one. A co-worker who lives in Roseville complained in my Facebook feed of the same thing.

It is disappointing that such a disparity exists, but hopefully Detroit residents will one day be able to bitch about getting idling tickets, instead of not even having the police show up.

**Honky Tonk** · January-10-17, 11:08 AM

Originally Posted by Bong-Man

Roseville PD has time to check out idling cars in private driveways on a cold Winter morning, and two miles away the cops take 4 hours to respond to an on-going larceny of a building. Ain't this area great ?

You get what you pay for, and in some cases, not.

**belleislerunner** · January-10-17, 01:16 PM

I heard it on WWJ this morning multiple times while driving in.

They even had a link to the ticket on the CBS website.

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2017/01/...sparks-debate/

Looks like officer Kevin Keary was the one who wrote the ticket based on the photo - my guess is he has a personal beef that transcended this incident.

**Honky Tonk** · January-10-17, 01:47 PM

Originally Posted by belleislerunner

I heard it on WWJ this morning multiple times while driving in.

They even had a link to the ticket on the CBS website.

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2017/01/...sparks-debate/

Looks like officer Kevin Keary was the one who wrote the ticket based on the photo - my guess is he has a personal beef that transcended this incident.

Maybe the kid told him to drop dead?

**hybridy** · January-10-17, 09:03 PM

If my personal vehicle is idling in my personal driveway the police officer has no legal right to enter my property and open/try to open my car door. This seems very simply a gross violation of my 4th amendment rights.

**erikd** · January-15-17, 07:49 AM

Originally Posted by Wesley Mouch

It does seem like a silly law, but its a law -- and maybe it does help the overall safety of the city. The citizens can [[and probably should) change it if they wish.

In the meantime, this seems like no big deal. So the police chief made a mistake. Campaign to get him replaced if you're offended. Or even better, stop being offended so easily. Unless there's a string of incidents, this seems pretty minor, if as BHam says, 'absurd'.

I just can't get over this zero-tolerance attitude to people's statements.

So which is it? Are you going to stop being offended so easily, or can't you get over this "zero-tolerance attitude" towards people's statements? [[Whatever that means)

**cla1945** · January-15-17, 01:04 PM

Berlin could have probably used different verbiage when speaking about Nick Taylor, but this little twerp called the officer a dipshit and said some things that he has since cleaned up on his facebook post. Taylor is a news hound in Roseville and used every opportunity to get himself in the limelight. Since his post, the officer who gave out the ticket for a car running, unattended, keys in the ignition, and unlocked for a period of time has received death threats for God's sake!!! What is this country coming to? If Taylors car was stolen, which happens frequently in all areas of Michigan when your dumb enough to leave your car running, keys in ignition, unlocked, then calling the police would have been his very first thought wouldn't it? Police officers have laws they are supposed to enforce, but, unfortunately, they're damned if they do, damned if they don't.

**Honky Tonk** · January-15-17, 01:07 PM

Originally Posted by cla1945

Berlin could have probably used different verbiage when speaking about Nick Taylor, but this little twerp called the officer a dipshit and said some things that he has since cleaned up on his facebook post. Taylor is a news hound in Roseville and used every opportunity to get himself in the limelight. Since his post, the officer who gave out the ticket for a car running, unattended, keys in the ignition, and unlocked for a period of time has received death threats for God's sake!!! What is this country coming to? If Taylors car was stolen, which happens frequently in all areas of Michigan when your dumb enough to leave your car running, keys in ignition, unlocked, then calling the police would have been his very first thought wouldn't it? Police officers have laws they are supposed to enforce, but, unfortunately, they're damned if they do, damned if they don't.

+5... And he would have blamed the cops for failing to keep an eye on his car.

**Wesley Mouch** · January-15-17, 01:37 PM

Originally Posted by erikd

So which is it? Are you going to stop being offended so easily, or can't you get over this "zero-tolerance attitude" towards people's statements? [[Whatever that means)

It means, for example, that I can admire Martin Luther King's even though its widely agreed that he was a big of a sexist pig.

Let's say a Police Chief says something that might not play so well in the media, like saying 'drop dead' to a resident. If we'd not over-react to one statement, and look at the whole person, we'd be doing better than someone who judges quickly.

I apply this as well to Jeff Sessions. So in 1986 he made a racist statement. Or Hillary Clinton. Saying 'basket of deplorables' was stupid. Does it mean she's not well-qualified? Nope.

We take one statement from someone we don't like, and we create an entire public image from it. Yet we condemn so quickly.